Tag Archives: vision

How long does it take to reclaim your eyesight naturally? A person with a mild prescription and belief in the process may be back to perfect vision in a few weeks. A person with an extreme prescription may take much longer, even up to several years of gradual progress.

The Bates model says the limiting factor is almost always in the mind, not the eyes. . .people who improve their vision often report a mental shift that brings more ease and relaxation to their lives.
— BetterEyesightNow.com

Considering I have relied on glasses for around two decades, I suppose I am not going to complain with “gradual progress” over a number of years (as opposed to my eyesight showing no improvement, or worse, continuing to deteriorate).

I have been told that the “mental part” is key to the success of improving one’s eyesight naturally. I find this to be 100% true.

In the past, I was using -6.00 to -7.00 degree lenses to do close-up work (reading, computer work, writing, etc.).

That I can do so now with -2.50 lenses are a big deal to me, and I look forward to seeing more improvement, even if it continues to be gradual.

In my experience, the improvement speeds up greatly when I am mentally/emotionally relaxed. It has to be a genuine state of mind “mental shift” (and not a one day “lazy” break from the usual routine).

One of the reasons I am very skeptical of LASIK surgery is because of the number of LASIK surgeons who wear glasses.

If we don’t have our sense of sight, we literally can’t see. Is LASIK surgery “riskier” for LASIK surgeons than it is for regular people? Isn’t one’s sense of sight something precious for every human being?

“A LASIK surgery expert and a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Cullen Eye Institute of the Baylor College of Medicine.”

Question: If LASIK is a great solution, why are LASIK surgeons still wearing glasses?!?!?

LASIK Complications is a comprehensive website on the risks and long-term issues of LASIK surgery gone wrong.

If you’re thinking of going for LASIK surgery, don’t read up about the risks after you’ve done the surgery when it’s too late. It’s an irreversible procedure and eyesight deteriorating after the surgery is not an uncommon occurrence. Do you really want to gamble with your eyesight and cut your corneas for what is “marketed” as a quick fix “solution”?

Some LASIK surgeons recommend not to do both eyes at once because of “the risks” involved. LASIK surgeons don’t consider dry eyes and night vision problems as “complications,” even though they may be debilitating and permanent. So a blind eye or eye that doesn’t function as well is considered “too bad” because it’s “a risk” you’re supposed to take? I’ll stick to the Bates Method, thanks.

These Top 10 Reasons as to why a person should not have LASIK surgery done should be more than enough to steer anyone away from this option.

LASIK permanently weakens the cornea — the thinner, weaker post-LASIK cornea is more susceptible to progressing to a condition known as keratectasia and corneal failure, requiring corneal transplant later on (ugh!).

Safer alternatives to LASIK exist. There is no sound medical reason to risk vision loss from unnecessary surgery.

I’ve asked that question to myself many times (LOL) throughout this natural vision improvement program.

The rate of progress varies for each person. I’ve been wearing glasses for almost 20 years, so that is literally two decades of “bad eyesight habits” to undo.

However I think there are certain things I could do to speed up my progress, since it’s right now at around -4.50 (which is a lot better than my original -7.25 prescription). Even though the improvement has taken several years, at least there is a real and lasting improvement without resorting to unhealthy or risky options such as contact lenses or LASIK surgery.

I read a blog post earlier today from iblindness.org — a lot of the things David said in his article are things that have worked for me too. So I will make a bit more of a conscious effort to implement these good eyesight habits from now on to relax/strengthen my eye muscles.

You need to remain conscious of what you’re looking at with your center of vision, meaning you can’t “space out” and think of something else. If you aren’t using your center of vision, you aren’t really looking at anything at all.

2. REGISTER THE DETAILS

It doesn’t much matter whether the next detail is far away or close to the first one. There is no faking this process — you have to be mentally engaged by thinking about what you’re looking at. Moving your central vision in the right way will feel too slow at first, but you will adapt and find you are processing details more quickly.

3. NARROW AND SPEED UP

The couple seconds you spend on each spot can be reduced as you narrow your area of clearest vision. The smaller the spot you identify as your central vision, the easier it is to look at.

4. RELAX

It’s important to stay as relaxed as possible so that you’re teaching yourself that this process is easy and something you can keep doing all day, every day as part of your normal perception.

The vision improvement process is very mental. The way to prevent your mind from running amok with random thoughts is to focus on something outside the words running in your head. Your breath is an extremely handy tool. Practice concentrating on the sound, feeling and rhythm of your breath, and remind yourself to notice it frequently as you practice the vision improvement process. It will keep you calm and focused.

5. BE INTERESTED

Genuine interest in what you’re looking at is a huge part of seeing and perceiving. Be mentally attentive to what you’re seeing. That’s one reason seeing through glasses doesn’t help your visual functioning – you might see more details through glasses, but you aren’t involved enough in the “looking” process that is just as important.

Like this:

I quote from these two sources as to why a child should never be made to wear glasses or contact lenses:

“While it is true that eyeglasses bring some people improved vision and relief from pain and discomfort, they always do more or less harm, and at their best they never improve your vision to normal. After you begin to wear glasses, in most cases, the correction has to be steadily increased in order to maintain the degree of visual acuity secured by the aid of the first pair. Your vision wearing glasses progressively decreases with time. It really is tragic when children are condemned to a lifetime of having to wear glasses because of all age groups they are the ones that best respond to natural eye improvement strategies.”
~ Dr. Mercola’s Vision Program (based on Bates Method)

“To put on glasses when one has developed a strain may give temporary relief, however, if incorrect habits of using the eyes are not overcome, the wearer returns to the eye specialist for an increase in the lens.”

Like this:

I was a little bit “depressed” (not seriously, just a little de-motivated) as of late because I have been hovering at almost -4.00 vision (my far distance vision is not super pin-sharp with that level yet).

I’ve been asked on several occasions — by well-meaning people who know I’m on this natural vision improvement program — how my “eye exercises” are going.

The Bates Method is about re-learning healthy/natural eyesight habits, not eye exercises, so I have persevered in keeping the main principles in mind.

I remember reading in Thomas’s book (that’s based on Bates’ work) something about:

I didn’t really have a good understanding of what he was talking about. I understood what he meant “in theory,” but in actuality, my vision was so bad that the depth of field made no difference whatsoever! (with wearing glasses vs. not wearing glasses.)

Today I was wearing non-prescription sunglasses (I bought a whole bunch because of a clearance sale), so everything was quite blurry with my “around -4.00” vision.

But it was a sunny day. I noticed that my peripheral vision was stronger when I took the sunglasses off. When I put them back on again I made a note about this “peripheral vision” so that my eyes/brain registered it.

Imagine my shock/surprise when I started seeing what the whole “depth of field” thing was about (!!!). Without my glasses, things are fuzzy to an extent — but I could see the form/outline of objects (plants, books on shelves, whatever), in a 3-dimensional way. When I put my glasses back on, things are sharper, but that 3-dimensional DEPTH OF FIELD is compromised (things become more 2-dimensional instead).

DAMN! That’s just the kind of motivation I need to continue on this natural vision improvement program :)

Last night I managed to do a pencil drawing without wearing my glasses.

I think I was unaware of the fact until the drawing was halfway done (I had to bend a bit closer towards the table, but without much strain).

I can read without glasses too (THANK GOD)…now I’m going to aim 100% to be able to work at a computer without glasses. I’m not wearing glasses now while typing this though my close-range vision with a computer screen is not super sharp yet…I will keep going until I get that done, lol :)

It’s taken me a LONNNNNG while (due to various factors/stressors, including “forgetting” about good eye habits), though I tried on my -5.00 glasses today and I’m finally able to see clearly into the distance with them.

My next goal is to get down to -4.00 glasses (after which, yes, I’m going to go for “perfect vision”). In 2009 I did keep to a rather severe schedule where I worked on the computer for a very limited amount of time daily. I didn’t wear glasses for the rest of the day with that schedule. My eyesight did improve within a relatively short time frame (then I experienced a couple of stressful events and bam, there went my vision improvement).

I’ll do my best to stay committed to getting it down to -4.00 this time (that was my first “major goal” from original prescription of -7.25, followed by the next “major goal” to get it down to perfect vision).